New Zealand’s Honoka Kawashima has won the Monin Coffee Creativity Cup Asia-Pacific final for 2023, with Australian Daniel Wilson coming second.
Honoka, from Frank’s Coffee, emerged victorious at the 22 November final, which took place at Slate At The Row, Kuala Lumpur.
“The New Zealand specialty coffee community allowed me to grow, and I’m grateful to be a part of it,” Honoka says. “I’ve been practising to get a good result, of course, however the important thing for me is also the process for the competition, and the people I met in Malaysia.”
The winning drink was a combination of Monin blood orange and pure sugar cane syrups, with espresso, amazake and osmanthus tea.
Representing Ona Coffee, Daniel’s second place performance rounds out a successful campaign for the Australasian representatives.
“It was really exciting to see all the different styles of drinks everyone came up with,” Daniel says. “Malaysia definitely has a growing coffee scene with many different influences from other industries.”
The theme of this year’s Monin Cup was to enhance the five senses. Competitors had to make the most creative espresso-based mocktail that appeals to sight, smell, sound, taste, and touch.
Each contestant was judged on how well each sense was incorporated into their drinks.
“The competition day was as well super fun and run really well by the Monin team with everything we needed to show off our creations,” says Daniel.
Both Honoka and Daniel will enjoy an Asian holiday as part of their prizes.
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